Vijay Kumar – Ace Shooter

Vijay Kumar is the growing ace sport shooter from India. He has represented India on several different occasions at several different places. Vijay Kumar was born on 19 August 1985 at Barsar village of the Hamirpur district situated in Himachal Pradesh.

Apart from shooting, Vijay Kumar is at present recruited in the Indian Army. He is working at the post of a ‘subedar’ in the Indian army. Vijay’s latest achievements include a silver medal at the 2012 London Olympic games.

Initial life and Family

Vijay Kumar was born in small village of Himachal Pradesh in a below average family. His father, Bankur Ram Sharma, is a man of poor means. Vijay was born and brought up within Barsar village until he joined the Indian army.

As a kid Vijay wanted to be an army officer and he achieved his dream when he became one. The other reason to join the Army was to support his family. Vijay, since child hood was a quite enthusiastic child.

He completed his former education from the Hamirpur district. And then went off to join the army.

Career as Shooter: Vijay Kumar

Before becoming an international shooter, Vijay was the best pistol shooter of the Indian Army. He has won several medals within the army for his performance.

His professional career as a shooter began with the 10 meter air pistol and then he went up to the 25 meter rapid fire pistol round.

2005: Starting Of the Career

Vijay Kumar in 2005 entered the 10 meter air pistol competition. The first games in which Vijay participated were the ‘Shooting world cup 3’.

The same year he entered the World cup 4 . He even participated in World cup finals but unfortunately was not able to qualify.

Vijay Kumar in 2005 participated in the following events

10 meter air pistol

World Cup 3 – 89th rank

World Cup 4 – 73rd rank

Vijay Kumar was not able to qualify in World cup finals.

2006: Year of Early Success

This year proved to be a success for Vijay Kumar as in this year he proved his presence to the world.

His best performance of the year includes 2 Gold Medals at the 2006 Common Wealth Games Melbourne. The first Gold medal of the Common Wealth Games, was won at the Men’s 25m Rapid Fire Pistol (Singles) Title and the second one was won at the Men’s 25m Rapid Fire Pistol (Pairs).

Vijay Kumar then entered the 2006 Asian Games at Doha. He proved his dominance by winning a Bronze Medal in the 25m Rapid Fire Pistol round. Actually he finished fourth as all the first three positions were held by Chinese. But according to a mandate which states that all three medals cannot be won by a single country, Vijay Kumar, was given the Bronze medal despite of his fourth position.

Vijay Kumar in 2006 participated in the following events

25 meter rapid fire pistol

World Cup 1 – 19th rank

World Cup 2 – 12th rank

World Cup 3 – 37th rank

World Cup 4 – 25th rank

World Championships – 34th

Vijay Kumar was not able to qualify the ‘World Cup Final’ of 2006.

25 meter center-fire pistol

Asian Games – 9th rank

World Championships – 27th rank

2007: Arjuna award

This year Vijay managed to get a silver medal for the country.

Vijay entered the ‘2007 Asian Championship’ held in Kuwait City, in the ‘25 meter center-fire pistol round’ and won a silver medal. This was the year when Vijay Kumar was bestowed with the ‘Arjuna award’ by the Indian Government.

Other events in which Vijay Kumar participated were:

25 meter rapid fire pistol

World Cup 1 – 35th rank

World Cup 2 – 35th rank

World Cup 3 – 14th rank

World Cup 4 – 40th rank

He did not take part in the World Championships this year.

Vijay Kumar was again, in 2007, not able to qualify the ‘World Cup Final’.

25 meter center-fire pistol

Asian Games – Silver medal

25 metre standard pistol

Asian Games – 12th rank

2008

This year did not proved to be successful year for Vijay Kumar. As in this year he did not received any success.

Vijay participated in many events but his luck did not take his side.

Events in which Vijay Kumar participated were

25 meter rapid fire pistol

World Cup 2 – 8th rank

World Cup 3 – 15th rank

World Cup 4 – 33rd rank

World cup Final – Participated

2009: Silver medal at ISSF Beijing

This year had something for Vijay Kumar.

Vijay participated in the ISSF world cup held at Beijing in 2009 and won a silver medal. This whole year Vijay tried bringing back his form which would appear in the next year.

Events in which Vijay Kumar participated this year were

25 meter rapid fire pistol

World Cup 1 – 10th rank

World Cup 2 – 2nd rank with a Silver Medal

World Cup 3 – 16th rank

World Cup 4 – 21st rank

World Cup Final – Qualified

2010: Vijay Kumar at Common Wealth Games

Vijay Kumar proved his talent with his luck in his home country. His performance at the Common wealth Games was tremendous and was appreciated by the whole country.

In the 2010 Common Wealth Games held at New Delhi, India; Vijay Kumar won three gold medals and a silver medal in four events. He came out as a star of the 2010 Common Wealth Games.

Vijay Kumar participated in the following events at the 2010 Common Wealth Games:

Starting with the events in which Vijay won Gold Medal(s)

Men’s 25 meter rapid fire pistol pairs

Vijay Kumar accompanied by Gurpreet Singh won the round and both were presented with gold medals. They did not just won the Gold medal but even broke the 25 meter rapid fire pistol pairs record of the Common wealth games. A new record of 1162 points was set by Vijay Kumar and Gurpreet Singh.

Men’s 25 meter rapid fire pistol singles

Vijay Kumar showed a tremendous performance and won a Gold Medal in the 25 meter rapid fire pistol singles. It was Vijay who set the qualifying as well as the final winning points.

Vijay marked 583 points in the qualifying session and 204.5 points in the final session. Even in the 2006 Common Wealth Games in Australia, it was Vijay Kumar, who set the qualifying points and the final points.

Men’s 25 meter center fire pistol pairs

In the 25 meter center fire pistol pairs, it was Vijay Kumar and Harpreet Singh, who took the title. Both of them touched an unbeatable mark of 1159 points.

Vijay Kumar won 1 Silver medal at the Common Wealth Games; its description is as follows:

Men’s 25 meter center fire pistol singles

In the 25 meter center fire pistol singles Vijay Kumar was beaten down by his own counterpart Harpreet Singh. As the difference between the points scored by Harpreet Singh and Vijay Kumar was just 6 points but it made Vijay Kumar to land on a silver medal.

2011: Vijay Kumar shooter

In 2011 Vijay did not received much chance to prove himself. Vijay in 2011 participated in the Fort Benning tournament and won a bronze medal.

Events in which Vijay Kumar participated in 2011 were:

Fort Benning – 3rd won a bronze medal

2012: Vijay Kumar at London Olympics 2012

Vijay Kumar represented India in the 2012 London Olympics and raised the name of the country. Vijay Participated in 25 m rapid fire pistol event and won a silver medal.

25 m rapid fire pistol at London Olympics 2012

Vijay Kumar touched the score of 293 points in the qualifying round and a total score of 585 in the finals. Thus Vijay finished second with a silver medal in the final.

Vijay ascended to the 2nd place when Feng missed two shots in the 7th round but was defeated by Pupo in the final round.

Vijay’s win brought a second medal to India.

In the 10 m air pistol Vijay Kumar finished with 31st rank.

Awards

He has been awarded with the following awards:

Arjuna Award – 2007

He was awarded with a 1 crore cash award by the Himachal Government after he won a silver medal at the London Olympics 2012.